What is the 1983 Mental Health Act?
The Mental Health Act is an act of parliament that allows for people who are very mentally unwell to be admitted to hospital for assessment and treatment against their wishes. Many people will be admitted to hospital as informal patients; this means that they have voluntarily agreed to go. However, compulsory admission may sometimes be necessary when someone who has such severe problems that they are a risk to their own health or the health or safety of other people and refuses to go into hospital. In these cases, compulsory admission can be arranged under one of the sections of the 1983 Mental Health Act and the person is detained ‘on section’ (or ‘sectioned’).
